XY064

← XY063 : A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways!

XY series

XY065 : Good Friends, Great Training! →

Battling with Elegance and a Big Smile!

XY064   EP863 フォッコVSマフォクシー！華麗なるパフォーマンスバトル！！ Fokko VS Mahoxy! A Splendid Performance Battle!!

First broadcast Japan March 12, 2015 United States May 23, 2015

English themes Opening Be a Hero Ending

Japanese themes Opening ゲッタバンバン Ending ドリドリ

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 面出明美 Akemi Omode Storyboard 村野佑太 Yūta Murano Assistant director 鈴木卓夫 Takuo Suzuki Animation director 斉藤圭太 Keita Saitō No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Battling with Elegance and a Big Smile! (Japanese: フォッコVSマフォクシー！華麗なるパフォーマンスバトル！！ Fokko VS Mahoxy! A Splendid Performance Battle!!) is the 64th episode of the XY series, and the 863rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 12, 2015 and in the United States on May 23, 2015.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Ash, Serena, and Bonnie are continuing their journey to meet Clemont in Lumiose City. Their trip is interrupted when a Pokémon Showcase rehearsal quickly turns into a fight between Fennekin and Pancham. Serena loses her temper and yells at them, and then decides she needs to walk away for a bit.

In town, she meets a familiar-looking girl named Ariana, who tries to cheer Serena up, advising her to smile and inviting her along for some shopping and lunch. When she hears about what happened, Ariana reminds Serena of the close partnership she shares with her Pokémon and suggests that she apologize to them.

After the apology, all is forgiven, and Ariana challenges Serena to a Double Battle. Serena is off to a shaky start, but she remembers Ariana’s advice and connects with her Pokémon. Serena’s fortunes turn around quickly—and Fennekin evolves into Braixen!

Later, our heroes are watching Pokévision when Kalos Queen Aria is introduced...and Serena is amazed when she realizes her new friend Ariana was really Aria in disguise! With her confidence and optimism renewed, Serena leads the way as our heroes set off once more for Lumiose City.

Plot

While en route to Lumiose City for Ash's Gym battle with Clemont, Ash, Serena, and Bonnie are watching a television broadcast about the Pokémon Showcase that Shauna had recently won in Coumarine City. Seeing Shauna's glory as the winner of a Showcase, Serena resolves to catch up to her rival and goes to train with Fennekin and Pancham as soon as Nurse Joy finishes healing them.

At first, the training proceeds well, with Serena, Fennekin, and Pancham obviously having fun and performing their moves in perfect harmony with each other. However, while performing a trick involving Pancham jumping through a fiery ring created by Fennekin's Flamethrower, Pancham's tail is burned and it becomes angry at Fennekin, blaming her for the mistake. Fennekin retaliates and, after Pancham tries the trick again and accidentally lands on Fennekin, the two of them begin fighting. Pancham hides behind Serena and taunts Fennekin, causing the latter to use Flamethrower in anger and hit Serena instead of Pancham. At this, Serena loses her temper and screams at her two Pokémon to stop fighting. Embarrassed and upset by the way she had treated her Pokémon, Serena leaves to go have some time by herself and think while Ash and Bonnie look after Fennekin, Pancham, and their other Pokémon.

Absentmindedly staring into the window of a shop, a miserable Serena decides that she is a failure as a Pokémon Performer. While lost in thought, a girl walks up behind her and comments on the hats in the window of the shop, thinking Serena is having trouble deciding which one to get. She introduces herself, somewhat hesitantly, as Ariana and invites Serena to go shopping with her, telling Serena how smiling is the most important thing when it comes to performing with one's Pokémon. While shopping, Serena and Ariana continue talking about Pokémon Performers. Serena is still very down on herself for her mistake in the Coumarine City Pokémon Showcase, which Ariana had watched on PokéVision, but Ariana tells her that everybody makes mistakes and to keep working with her Pokémon. Serena, enjoying their conversation, begins to smile again and Ariana says that people will love her smile. While the two girls share a meal together, Ariana suggests that Serena's first step to make amends with her Pokémon be to simply apologize, because she and Fennekin are always together and even though Pancham isn't always very honest with itself, it cares about Serena, too.

Meanwhile, Ash and Bonnie have been spending the day having fun with Pikachu, Dedenne, and the other Pokémon. Fennekin and Pancham, like Serena, have been very upset for much of the day, blaming themselves for Serena's anger and for the problems caused between them. Bonnie manages to coax them into eating their food, however, and she and Ash talk about how Clemont is doing back at the Lumiose Gym. At the Gym at that moment, Clemont defeats his newest challenger, a Trainer named Scottie, in his Gym challenge and gives him useful advice about the timing of his Treecko's Mega Drain.

Later that evening, Serena returns to where Ash, Bonnie, and her Pokémon are playing and Fennekin and Pancham immediately express their apologies to her. She, in turn, apologizes to them, and is startled when Ariana challenges her to a Double Battle. Ariana sends out her Delphox and Aromatisse to battle against Pancham and Fennekin. During the battle, Serena realizes that Ariana is a Performer herself and is at first unable to overcome her opponent's beautiful and effective combinations. When Ariana offers her advice about making sure she and her Pokémon are in full cooperation with each other, Serena begins a new combination with Stone Edge and Flamethrower that help her begin to turn the battle around. When Ariana counters with her own Flamethrower and hurts Fennekin, Serena remembers her advice to just keep smiling and reassures Pancham and Fennekin that everything will turn out all right in the end. Responding to Serena's words, Fennekin evolves into Braixen. Before the battle can be completed, however, Ariana is called away and leaves behind a confused Serena, Ash, and Bonnie.

The next day, Serena, Bonnie, and Ash are watching an exhibition by Kalos Queen Aria on television, and Serena finally recognizes her as "Ariana", the one who had given her so much help the day before. Inwardly thanking Aria for her assistance, Serena resolves to train even harder and someday achieve her dream of becoming Kalos Queen.

Major events

• Clemont meets a Trainer named Scottie.
• Serena meets Aria in person.
• Aria's Braixen is revealed to have evolved into a Delphox.
• Aria is revealed to own an Aromatisse.
• Serena's Fennekin evolves into Braixen.
• Serena has a Double Battle against Aria, but the battle gets interrupted when Aria gets called.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

• Scottie

Pokémon debuts

• Aromatisse
• Serena's Braixen

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

• Ash
• Serena
• Clemont
• Bonnie
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Aria
• Shauna (video)
• Monsieur Pierre (video)
• Scottie

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Treecko (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Aromatisse (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Dedenne (Clemont's)
• Frogadier (Ash's)
• Fletchinder (Ash's)
• Hawlucha (Ash's)
• Sliggoo (Ash's)
• Chespin (Clemont's)
• Luxray (Clemont's)
• Fennekin (Serena's; evolves)
• Braixen (Serena's; newly evolved)
• Pancham (Serena's)
• Wigglytuff (Nurse Joy's)
• Delphox (Aria's)
• Aromatisse (Aria's)
• Bulbasaur (Shauna's; video)
• Flabébé (Shauna's; Orange Flower; video)
• Treecko (Scottie's)
• Furfrou (La Reine Trim)
• Foongus (flashback)
• Oddish (flashback)
• Lombre (flashback)
• Victreebel (flashback)
• Roserade (flashback)

Other

• Clembot

Trivia

• Ash and Serena read the title card.
  • This is the fourth time in the XY series that someone else reading the title card has been kept in the dub.

File:Title Card XY Serena V2.png

The title card segment focuses on Serena for this episode

• The title card is updated to include Serena's new design when the episode focuses on her.
• Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Bonsly
• This episode marks the first time in the XY series where V (Volt) was not used as an insert song during a Pokémon's evolution. For this case, DreamDream was used instead.
  • This is also the first time this series where the Pokémon that just evolved did not learn a new move.
• This episode features the following flashbacks of Serena and her Fennekin during her evolution.
  • Serena meeting and choosing Fennekin as her first Pokémon from A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!.
  • Serena hugging Fennekin from Day Three Blockbusters!
  • Serena giving Fennekin and Pancham gifts from Under the Pledging Tree!.
  • Serena looking at Fennekin as they are about to enter the first round of the Pokémon Showcases from A Showcase Debut!.
• Due to him leaving in order to prepare for his match against Ash, this is the first time Bonnie has asked a girl to marry Clemont where she didn't get pulled away by him.

Errors

• Although it doesn't occur on-screen, Clemont mentions that Scottie's Treecko used Razor Leaf during their Gym Battle, a move Treecko is unable to learn.
• In the dub when the group's Pokémon are eating, Fletchinder's Japanese voice can be heard.
• In the dub the narrator was missing in the beginning of the episode right after the opening. The narrator's lines were left in the Closed Captions though. The line missing goes as follows: "NARRATOR: With four kalos Gym badges in Ash's possession, our heroes continue to the Lumiose Gym for Ash's battle with Clemont."
• The background music for the return of Who's That Pokémon? is also missing in the English dub for unknown reasons.

Dub edits

File:Title Card XY Ash.png

The dub's title card with Serena's old design

• The title card segment focuses on Ash in the dub, but is read by both Ash and Serena.
• In the dub, Clemont states that Scottie's Treecko uses Mega Drain, a move Treecko can legally learn, instead of Razor Leaf.

In other languages

← XY063 : A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways!

XY series

XY065 : Good Friends, Great Training! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.